Byron Nelson tournament to move from Irving to new southern Dallas course in 2019

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Louis DeLuca/Staff Photographer

The championship course will be built on an old landfill along Loop 12 east of Interstate 45. The Byron Nelson has been played at the TPC Four Seasons in Las Colinas since 1983. The Dallas City Council votes Wednesday on a 40-year lease with the nonprofit that will control the new course.

IRVING — The HP Byron Nelson Championship is getting a new home in southern Dallas — but not any time soon.

Tournament officials have agreed to move the PGA Tour event to the Trinity Forest golf course in 2019. The Nelson is contracted with Four Seasons Resort and Club in Irving through 2018.

Representatives of the Nelson, the PGA Tour and the Trinity Forest complex signed a 10-year contract, Charley Spradley, president of the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, said Tuesday.

The championship course is being built on an old landfill along Loop 12 east of Interstate 45. Austin-based Coore & Crenshaw designed the layout.

The Nelson has been played at the Four Seasons since 1983. This week’s tournament marks the 30th anniversary of the event’s move to Irving from Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas.

“It’s never an easy decision, but we have always been and will always be enthusiastic about expanding the mission for our charity,” Spradley said. “We are excited about the long-term future, but that is not any commentary whatsoever about our partners and friends at TPC Four Seasons.”

Landing the Nelson is critical to the Trinity Forest project, which involves the city of Dallas, future Nelson title sponsor AT&T, Southern Methodist University and the First Tee of Greater Dallas.

Dallas City Council members are set to vote Wednesday on authorizing a 40-year lease with the Company of Trinity Forest Golfers, the nonprofit entity that will control the course.

That deal includes the requirement that the course become host of the Nelson, plus other provisions.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said the deal shows that the city can make a big idea a reality. Although the contract states that the tournament must relocate to Dallas by 2019, it could be sooner, Rawlings said. Spradley said Nelson officials have not discussed breaking the Four Seasons contract.

“I want this golf course built quickly, and I want to start playing top-notch golf there,” Rawlings said. He added that the timing of the announcement during tournament week was unintentional.

Rawlings expects the council to support the course deal when it votes Wednesday. That vote would also authorize City Manager Mary Suhm to spend taxpayer funds to begin environmental cleanup and rough grading of the old landfill site.

Losing the tournament will strike a blow to Irving. The Nelson accounts for tens of millions of dollars in economic impact each year.

While Irving officials noted that the Nelson’s move was conditional on the new course being built to specifications, they seemed resigned to its eventual loss.

Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne said in a statement that the tournament “is and always has been a regional event. The tournament is bigger than any one city and benefits every community in North Texas.”

Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau director Maura Gast said she knew several weeks ago that the signing was imminent, though she found its announcement during opening ceremonies “incredibly tacky.”

“We understand this comes back to the title sponsorship and the power of the tournament,” she said. “This is not a surprise.”

Spradley and Salesmanship Club chairman Robert Smith heaped praised on Irving and the Four Seasons, noting that 96 percent of the tournament’s charity dollars have been raised there.

The Nelson benefits from its connection to the Four Seasons, its location in Las Colinas and the new DART line near the course.

But the course has received its share of criticism from players. A Sports Illustrated poll once ranked the TPC as the worst course on the PGA Tour. In 2006, the poor condition of the greens led to an emergency renovation. Players have generally liked the redesign by D.A. Weibring and Steve Wolfard, but it’s been difficult getting back the ones who bolted.

“If anything has not played to stellar reviews, it would be the golf course,” Spradley said. “So the prospect of a world-class golf course in southern Dallas is a very attractive one. That’s the hope and promise, and we certainly hope that is the delivery.”

Rawlings envisions the Trinity Forest course as a sort of Cowboys Stadium of golf: a bold championship course created by one of the world’s top design teams to lure marquee players.

AT&T, which will replace HP as title sponsor in 2015, is contributing $2.5 million for a hike-and-bike trail to be named for AT&T. The trail will connect the course with the Trinity River Audubon Center to the south.

AT&T’s golf presence is significant, including title sponsorship of three PGA Tour events and financial backing of the Masters.

The marriage could bolster the Nelson’s bargaining power with the Tour on potential date changes and other matters that could raise the tournament’s profile. Attracting top players, and thus more fans, is critical to the Salesmanship Club’s charity drive. The Nelson has raised more than $127 million, a Tour record, for its Youth and Family Centers.

City Hall has been eager to get the deal done, but it might not be signed until August because the nonprofit course operator is still finalizing details of its agreement with SMU. The course is intended to become the base for SMU’s golf teams.

The agreement accelerates the schedule for the Company of Trinity Forest Golfers to show it has in hand the $20 million investment the city is requiring in the golf course. Proof of that money needs to be shown by Aug. 31 under terms of the new lease.

The city’s contribution to the project is capped at $12 million. That money will go toward remediation of the landfill, grading and other plans. The council is scheduled to vote May 15 on whether to approve the lease terms.

“We hope it holds bright prospects for our charity,” Spradley said. “As much as we love golf, it’s about the children. It’s an exciting project that all parties are enthusiastic about.”

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